Tecumseh District Library seeking millage renewal, increase

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to accurately say supporters of the Tecumseh District Library set up the website www.vote4tdl.com, not the library board or staff.

TECUMSEH — The Tecumseh District Library Board is asking voters to renew the 1.15-mill levy funding the library, and to approve an additional 0.2 mills. The issue will be on the May 7 election ballot in the Tecumseh school district.

The library district was established 10 years ago following approval of a millage by Tecumseh school district voters. The library was then spun off from the school district, which had used the facility as an extension of its curriculum. Library director Gayle Hazelbaker said the TDL is an independent library district that is not affiliated with the other libraries in Lenawee County.

Former board of trustee member Anne Walker of Tecumseh, who heads the Tecumseh District Library ballot question committee, said the millage generates 80 percent of the library's revenue.

"What has occurred, in a nutshell, is that since the downturn in the value of property, we have been in a deficit mode and have had to cut, cut, cut," she said. "If we want to continue to operate at the level we are, we need to not only get the renewal restoration, but we also need to ask for an additional 0.20 millage."

Walker and Hazelbaker said they have been told by Lenawee County officials that even with renewal and the increase, the TDL won't see an improvement in its funding for about five years.

The library has been operating under the same millage for the past 10 years but is running into rising costs for materials and services.

Despite revenue issues, the Tecumseh library has been able to weather the economic difficulties, but the increase is needed along with the renewal just to keep the library operating as it has been, Hazelbaker said.

"If the increase doesn't pass, we will have to make cuts that are more visible to the community," she said. "All the cuts we have made, we have worked very hard not to impact our users. But we are just not going to be able to go that way anymore."

If the renewal doesn't pass, Hazelbaker said the TDL would use up its rainy day fund — about six months' worth of expenses — and then close its doors.

"What we hope the community will see is that as they have had to downsize, we have been there for them to bridge the gap," she said. "But we can't do it without their support."

Hazelbaker said many of the library's operations and offerings are technology driven, a huge change from the traditional library model.

"People look to us, if not to provide all of their technology, they look to us to teach them how to use it," she said. "More and more it's become kind of a community center, a hub where any day you could see people (meet and talk)."

Walker said people are able to log onto the library site from their home computer to see if the library has the information needed, or how it could be obtained.

Hazelbaker said the technology is an important part, but the original purpose of a library is still viable: the feel, smell and experience of holding and reading a book.

"I can't imagine in our lifetime that it would ever go away," she said. "There are too many of us who like the smell, like the paper, who want to judge the book by the cover."

Using the capital improvement fund, interest earned from the library's endowment fund and donations, the TDL upgraded the facilities two years ago. The work added more public-access computers and more connections for people to use personal laptops. The library added 18 new computers and a fireplace, two lounges, energy-efficient lighting, carpeting and three small study and meeting rooms.

A library value calculator is available on the TDL website for people to determine what they are getting for the community's investment in the library, Hazelbaker said.

"We've been lucky with our funding to have a children's librarian, a teen librarian and an adult librarian, as well as a whiz-bang reference librarian," Walker said. "You look at some of the resources and expertise that are at risk."

Supporters of the TDL have created a website, www.vote4tdl.com, with information on the library and the millage request. The library's website is www.tecumsehlibrary.org.

At a glanceTo calculate the cost of the two Tecumseh District Library millage proposals:— Locate the current year's taxable value on the annual statement received from the assessor. This statement is titled "This is Not a Bill."— Divide the taxable value by 1,000.— Multiply this number by 1.35 to determine the actual cost for the two library proposals.Example: A 2012 statement showing a 2012 taxable value to be $53,000 would result in an additional $71.55 annually to support the library.

Tecumseh District Library millage proposalsThe following are the ballot proposals Tecumseh library district voters will be asked to consider at the May 7 election:

TECUMSEH DISTRICT LIBRARY MILLAGE PROPOSITION NO. 1MILLAGE RENEWAL AND INCREASEShall the Tecumseh District Library be authorized to levy a tax annually upon the taxable value of all property subject to ad valorem taxation within the district of the Tecumseh District Library in an amount not to exceed 1.15 mills ($1.15 for each $1,000 of taxable value) for a period of ten (10) years, 2013 through 2022, inclusive, to provide funds for all Library purposes authorized by law?

This millage is a renewal of the previously authorized millage of 1.1472 mills which expired following the 2012 levy, and a new additional millage of 0.0028 mill to restore millage lost as a result of Headlee Amendment millage reductions, for a total authorized millage of 1.15 mills. This millage is estimated to provide revenues of $627,990 in the first year of the levy. To the extent required by law, a small portion of the revenues from this millage (approximately 1.2% in the first year of the levy) will be captured within the district of and disbursed to the City of Tecumseh Downtown Development Authority.

TECUMSEH DISTRICT LIBRARY MILLAGE PROPOSITION NO. 2NEW ADDITIONAL MILLAGE(This millage shall be authorized only if Tecumseh District Library Proposition No. 1 is also approved by Tecumseh District Library voters).

Shall the Tecumseh District Library be authorized to levy a new additional tax annually upon the taxable value of all property subject to ad valorem taxation within the district of the Tecumseh District Library in an amount not to exceed 0.2 mills ($0.20 for each $1,000 of taxable value) for a period of ten (10) years, 2013 through 2022, inclusive, to provide funds for all Library purposes authorized by law?

This millage is estimated to provide revenues of $110,745 in the first year of the levy. To the extent required by law, a small portion of the revenues from this millage (approximately 1.2% in the first year of the levy) will be captured within the district of and disbursed to the City of Tecumseh Downtown Development Authority.